Automatic belt-guide



(No Model.) T I 2 Sheet- Sheet 1.

' O. R. RATHBUN.

AUTOMATIC BELT GUIDE.

No. 247,408. Patented Sept. 20,1881

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'(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. R. RATHBUN.

. AUTOMATIC BELT GUIDE. v No. 247,408. Patented Sept. 20, 1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES R. RATHBUN, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC BELT-GUIDE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 247,408, dated September 20, 1881.

Application filed March 19, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES R.RATHBUN, of the city and county of Worcester and State and useful Improvements in Automatic Belt- Guides for Paper-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of one of my aforesaid improved automatic guides when applied to use, as will be hereinafter more fully described. Fig. 2 represents a top or plan view of the guide shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 represents, upon an enlarged scale, a vertical section through portions of the guide, taken on line A B, Fig. 2, looking in the direction indicated by arrow 0, same figure.

In paper-making machinery it is diflicult to keep the endless wire belts used upon the same in their proper positions upon the rolls, the tendency being for said belts to move out of their true course, either to the right or to the left; and in order to keep said belts in their proper course it is necessary to arrange one or more of the carrier-rolls over which they pass so that they can be moved out of a square line by the action of the belts, and thereby bring them into their proper course again. They cannot be kept in position by means of stationary guides, for the reason that the edges of the belt bend and double over at the edges, and consequently wear away very rapidly.

There is considerable objection to the automatic guides now in use, for the above reason, viz: of wearing away the edges so rapidly, on account of the pressure required by the belts to'ship them; and another objection is that they occupy considerable space upon the machine, as well as for other reasons unnecessary to niention,which arewell understood by those skilled in the art to which they appertain.

The object of my invention is to overcome, as far as is possible, the aforesaid objectionable features.

It consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts which compose said guide, and of the bearing of the roll supported upon said guide, which is arranged to swivel, as will be hereinafter more fully described.

(No model.)

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detailof Massachusetts, have invented certain new In the drawings, the part marked a represents one of the posts or standards under the Fourdrinier rail of a paper-machine, to which is secured the outer end of screw-arborl), upon which the guide is supported and moves back and forth, as hereinafter described.

The carrier-r0110 of the paper-machine, over which the wire belting passes, is arranged to turn in swivel-bearing d and a similar hearing at the other end of said roll. The shaft 0 of roll 0 is held in position in bearing d by means of collars or rings ff at each end of said bearing, which are secured to said shaft by means of pins or otherwise. Upon said collars ff are formed or secured curved projecting arms or dogs 9 g, which act as cams to alternately force down first one end and then the other of a rocking part, II, when the shaft is in operation, by the surfaces of said cams bearing upon the parts g g of said rocking part h when in op eration.

Instead of making the cam parts 9 g in the form of curved arms, as above described, and shown in the drawings, they may be made with a cam-surface upon both sides, in either .a skeleton or solid form, as desired.

The box part D of the guide is made in two sections or halves, i-and k, and is of the proper form to contain and support the several working parts of said guide, as hereinaiterdescribed. Said sections or halves are secured together by means of bolts ll, the ends of which are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

Screw-arbor b is provided with threads on cured, at ashort distance to one side of the centerof the same, atoothcd wheel, 12. Shoulders are also formed upon said part for the sides q q of box part D to bear against. The

box part D and rocking part h are fitted to turn loosely upon shell part 0, being held in position upon the same by means of a hub, h, formed on rocking part h and the aforesaid shoulders and toothed wheel 19, when the parts are arranged and fitted together and secured by bolts 1 Z, as before described.

Swivel-bearing d is held in position and arranged to turn upon the top of box part D, in this instance, by a circular projection being formed upon the under side of said bearing piece, (having flaring edges,) which fits into a correspondingly-shaped recess formed in the tops of the halves 2' 7c of box part D, as represented by dotted lines 0" in" Fig. 3 of the drawings. Any other suitable pivotal bearing may be employed than the aforesaid, if preferred.

At each side of box D upon rocking part It, near the bottom, are hinged pawls or dogs 8 s, which are pushed forward to catch against the teeth formed on wheelp by means of springs t t and pins u u, (see Fig. 3,) arranged in openings formed in the projecting parts U 2) upon said rocking part It. Said pawls or dogs 8 s are sprung back when not required to catch against the teeth of wheel 9 by means of levers w w hinged to the box D at 00 a, which are operated by means of a cam-plate y, crank-lever z, and cross-bar 1, the latter beingin turn operated back and forth by means of the wire belt of the machine, which passes over the same and roll 0 between plate or paddle 2 arranged upon said cross-bar and another plate similarly arranged at the other side of the belt. The upper ends of levers w w are made round and work in curved slots 4 4 formed in plate 51/, which are of the proper shape to move the lower end of one lever w out and the other in, when the plate is partially turned by cranklever 42. Said lever z and plate g are rigidly secured together and both arranged to turn upon a pivot-pin, 3, secured in box part D.

To the upper side of the outer end of lever z is secured an upwardly-projecting pin, 4., which acts as a pivotal bearing for the end 2 of cross-bar 1. The opposite end of cross-bar l is also arranged upon a similar bearing, so that it may have a free and easy lateral movement.

The plates or paddles 2, which are secured to adjustable parts 5, are made slightly curving, with their convex sides toward the belt, thereby obtaining an even pressure upon the edges of said belt when said paddles are swung around into different positions. The adjustable parts 5 are curved upon the inside, as represented by dotted lines 6 6, Fig. 2, of the drawings, and are provided with pivotscrews 7 7, pointed upon their inner ends, which bear upon the upper and under sides of said cross-bar, so that the paddles or bearingplates may easily turn a short distancein either direction independent of the movement of the cross-bar.

From the foregoingconstruction and arran gement of parts it will be seen that a very slight pressure of the edge of the belt against the paddles is required to operate the guide. This is, I claim to be, one of the most valuable features of my invention, since the edge of the belt is worn away much less rapidly than when considerable pressure is required to operate the same, as is the case with all similar automatic belt-guides now in use.

In the drawings the several parts of the guide are represented in the positions that they would occupy when the belt is moving forward in a perfectly straight line over the carrier-rolls of the machine, both pawls 88 being raised off of toothed wheel 19, so that no action is imparted to the guide. Supposing, now, that said belt commences to bear toward the right as it moves forward in the direction represented by arrow 8 in Fig. 1, then the belt will commence to bear against the paddle shown in said Fig. 1, thereby causing pawl s to be forced into action with toothed wheelp and pawl s still farther away from said wheel upon its opposite side. By the continued operation of the machine said wheel 10 is now turned in the direction shown by arrow 10, Fig. 3, which causes the guide to move toward the standard or post a, to which it is secured, and in a short time the belt is guided back again into its proper course. When the belt moves out of line toward the left it is guided back by means of pawl s, which turns the toothed wheel 10 in the opposite direction, and thereby reverses the movement of the guide away from instead of toward its point of fastening, and thus causes the belt to move forward in its proper course again, as above described.

Those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs will readily understand and appreciate the practical advantages derived from constructing and arranging the several parts of an automatic belt-guide as hereinbefore described, and shown in the drawings, said parts being all strong, durable, and not easily broken or got out of repair, and by pivoting the bearing d of the guide-roll 0 over the center of the guide, as before described, said roll 0 is enabled to adjust itself automatically to the movement of the belt, which greatly facilitates the aforesaid operation of keeping said belt in its straight and proper course.

Having described my improvements in automatic wire and other belt guides for paper machines, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic belt-guide for paper-ma chines, the combination of a swivel-bearing, d, with the box part D of the guide, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the shafteof guideroll 0, of rings or collars ff, provided with cam parts 9 g, hollow bearing d, and the parts t of box part D, substantially as an d for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination of shaft e, cams g g on rings or collars ff, rocking part h, provided with hub h and hollow projecting parts '0 n, springs t t, pins u u, pawls s s, and toothed wheel 19, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The combination, with screw-arbor b, of shell part 0, provided with grooves upon its inner face and shoulders'for the sides q q of box part D to bear against, rocking part h, provided with hub h and hollow projecting parts a: 'v, toothed wheel 10, and pawls s s, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with pawls 88, of levers w w, box part D, slotted swivel cam-plate 1 and its pivot-pin 3, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

6. The combination, with pawls ss, of levers w 20, box part D, slotted swivel cam -p1ate y, its pivot-pin 3, crank-lever z, pin 4, cross-bar 1, and adjustable part 5, provided with pivotscrews 7 7 and curved plate or paddle 2, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

'7. The combination, with cross-bar 1, of adjustable part 5, provided with pivot-screws 7 7 and curved plate or paddle 2, and curved upon the inside, substantiallyas and forthe purposes set forth.

8. The combination of sh aft 6, swivel-bearing (1, rings or collars f f, provided with cam parts 9 9, box part D, made in sections 1' 7c, rocking part h, provided with hub h and hollow pro jecting parts 0 2:, springs t, pins u u, pawls s s, toothed wheel 19, shell part 0, provided with grooves upon its inner face, and shoulders for the sides q q of box part D to bear against, screw-arbor b, levers w w, slotted swivel camplate 3 pin 3, crank-lever 2, pin 4, cross-bar 1, and adjustable part 5, provided with pivotscrews 7 7 and curved plates or paddles 2, all constructed and arranged to operate substan tially as shown and described, for the purpose stated.

CHARLES R. RATHBUN. Witnesses:

GEO. L. BEDDING, ALBERT A. BARKER. 

